55 Days, Green-to-Use, Ripe Tomatoes

[thistlebloom]

Thanks for the suggestions I was just looking through the new Totally Tomatoes catalog, and found Prudens Purple, so I think I'll give that one a try, but they didn't have Orange Minsk, Kimberly or Gary O Sena . Where do you get your seeds? I know there's a bajillion catalogs out there because I get at least half of them (and try not to feel guilty when I don't order, since it was so thoughtful of them to think of me )
Yeah - what'd you do - sneak into my yard with your tomatoes and take a picture after I pulled weeds?
I don't think your Kimberly is homely, maybe just a little bloated...

 

[Organics North]

Ah fellow short growing season gardeners... I am wanting to move away from the "garden variety" tomatoe, and into more obscure varieties...

I am being tempted to try some of the Russian lineage blacks.

Like the black cherry..
http://store.tomatofest.com/Cooler_Climate_Tomato_Varieties_s/47.htm

Having one plant that peaks late with long storing tomatoes would be fine by me too!
Digit's seems like a winner you have.

ON

 

[digitS']

The seed for my plants this year came from a number of sources.

I am reluctant to suggest an outfit that I've never bought anything from but Gleckler seems to have all the ones I mentioned .

I think the Tomatofest website is just great! Once again, I've never bought from them.

Victory Seed fits into this group. I really admire what Tatiana has put together at tatianastomatobase.com. Skyfire Garden Seeds and Gourmet Seed have been recommended by a very knowledgeable tomato gardener - I've never used them! So many seeds . . . so little garden space.

One outfit that I have bought from with good experiences is Tomato Growers Supply. (And, what a beautiful catalog !) Over the years, I have also bought lots of stuff from Totally Tomatoes and their parent company, Jung Seed.

Steve

 

[Organics North]

The seed for my plants this year came from a number of sources.

I am reluctant to suggest an outfit that I've never bought anything from but Gleckler seems to have all the ones I mentioned .

I think the Tomatofest website is just great! Once again, I've never bought from them.

Victory Seed fits into this group. I really admire what Tatiana has put together at tatianastomatobase.com. Skyfire Garden Seeds and Gourmet Seed have been recommended by a very knowledgeable tomato gardener - I've never used them! So many seeds . . . so little garden space.

One outfit that I have bought from with good experiences is Tomato Growers Supply. (And, what a beautiful catalog !) Over the years, I have also bought lots of stuff from Totally Tomatoes and their parent company, Jung Seed.

Steve

I know Jung.. Yep they are local very very local to where I grew up..
IMO they are a little better than your average catalog seed company... However I have been having so much fun the last few years trying "new/old" more obscure sources for seed..

ON

 

[Collector]

We have never grown alot of tomatoes yet my wife has like 5 pots on the patio that she likes to plant already started tomatoes in from the garden center. I prefer to buy the tomatoe plants that I call suprise. THe reason I call them that is there is no tag left on it to indicate the variety or any other info, plus sometimes I can get a discount on them.
Two years ago we got one that grew little yellow tomatoes that were sorta shaped like a pear. they were right on the step leading into the house from the patio. I called them popcorn tomatoes cause I could not walk out the door without picking and eating one, (they were very tasty).
Last growing season we had two that were small cherrie types they were good plain or on a salad.
the two other plants we got were the larger kind the fruit was still really green at the first frost. We picked them and put them in a basket with a bunch of banannas on top they ripened up in about two weeks.
They were okay nothing to write home about though. We wont be getting those kind again,,, I hope!
I think this year we will try and know what kind we are going to buy so we can know what to expect. I may throw in a surprise or two anyways just for fun!

 

[digitS']

ON, my relationship as a Jung customer goes back a long while.

I was a Shumway customer even longer, back to the '60's. Then Shumway moved out of Rockford, Illinois to South Carolina and seemed to go into some kind of corporate overdrive with all these other seed company mergers. Within just a few years, Jung bought them out - Shumway must have imploded!

Jung also sells farm seed. I suppose theirs can be counted as a success story. I don't ever recall having been disappointed by them.

Collector, there's a Palouse gardener who has said that he grows Fireworks every year. I am not sure if he is saving the seed since it isn't a hybrid but he was quite pleased with it over a long time.

It really seems like Fireworks would be a good one for me to try this next season - in my continuing quest to completely replace Early Girls .

Steve
who is thinking about another thread that could be titled, "What to Grow Instead of Early Girls"

 

[Collector]

The type that all garden centers seemed to carry the most of besides early girl, were the fourth O july tomatoes has anyone tried growing them, do they work out well or not.

 

[Organics North]

Digit's
Dont get me wrong.. I don't think a year has gone in the last 30 some years where I did not stick a Jung seed in the ground.. I do appreciate them.and have been and always will be a loyal customer.... Just havin fun looking for the "cutting edge" or odd ball heirloom at obscure seed sources on the net..

 

[Organics North]

The type that all garden centers seemed to carry the most of besides early girl, were the fourth O july tomatoes has anyone tried growing them, do they work out well or not.

We plant some early girl most every year.. We get large plants with good fruit set, here in WI. (We do not get not many weeks over 80F in the day, with nights still in the 50's or low 60's)

ON

 

[digitS']

Sounds exactly like me, ON. In fact, the growing season temperatures sound darn familiar, too. Probably a little wider range here because of the lower humidity.

Aaand, I want a successful season. Early Girl comes thru year after year. To me, it even has a good tomatoey flavor. I'll say right here that there are darn few tomatoes that I haven't enjoyed eating.

Last season, I'm fairly sure that it was Jung who sent me a complimentary packet of Early Wonder. It could have been the year before but I planted the seed in 2010. Very pretty, nice size, productive but a little short of flavor.

Ultimate Opener was supposed to be earlier, larger, more productive than Early Girl. In my garden, it wasn't earlier and, once again, it wasn't as flavorful.

People are probably throwing up their hands at this point with me citing EG's flavor but . . . how much more can you expect from such an early maturing tomato?

Bloody Butcher gives you more flavor . But, it is kind of a little thing . . . Just about the best flavor, IMO , is from the golden cherries: Sungold and Sunsugar! And, they are available from the earliest days of the season right to the last .

Sources for the unusual? Well, I bought seed from Jeff Casey in Calgary last year. He seems like a real nice guy and he's put together a very nice catalog that has just been updated. A pdf version is available for downloading. Casey's Heirloom Tomatoes

Steve